Speed-indicator.



'PATENTBD JUNE 9, 1903.

a. RIGH I. SPEED INDICATOR.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1901.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

IO 10mm.

r'iesses THE noims Pzrins co, PHOTO-LYING" WASHINGTON, a. c.

No. 730,298. PATENTED JUNE 9, 190 s.-

J. RIQHI. SPEED INDICATOR.

APPLIGATION FILED SEPT. 23, 1901.

no MODEL.

'W-qficssee rm: NORRIS PETERS co, PHOTU-LITMOY. wAsmNsToN, a. c,

UNITED STATES Patented June 9, 1903.

JAKOB RICHI, OF BERNE, SWITZERLAND.

SPEED-INDICATOR.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 730,298, dated June 9,1903.

Application filed September 23, 1901. Serial No. 76,239. (No model.)

To (LZVZ whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, JAKOB RICHI, a citizen of the Swiss Republic,residing and having my post-office address at Mattenhofstrasse 28,Berne, Switzerland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements inSpeed-Indicators, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in speed-indicators.

Owing to the rapid variations in the speed of railway-trains it hasbecome increasingly apparent that the trochometer in common useindicates changes of speed much too late, and therefore does not answermodern requirments.

The object of the present invention is to remove this disadvantage bydispensing with a single falling block which has to revolve with a shaftdriven by clockwork, and thus engages and disengages itself with andfrom the driving mechanism, and to substitute therefor severalnon-rotatable screw-threaded blocks which are successively raised by aworm driven by the machine the speed of which is to be measured, saidblocks acting" successively on the indicator or pointer until they arerespectively disengaged from the worm by means of a clock-shaft. Thedisengaging of each block can be accelerated as required by suitablyincreasing the number of disengaging-cams on the clock-shaft, and thereturn movement of the indicator is not effected by positive mechanicalmeans, but by counterweighting, so that if a suitable number of blocksare provided an almost instantaneous indication of speed may beobtained, which was not possible with the positive trochometers hithertoin use.

Reference being made to the annexed drawings, Figure 1 is a diagrammaticelevation of the Whole apparatus. Fig. 2 is a horizontal section of Fig.1 on the line a b; Fig. 3, a vertical section of Fig. l on the line d,and Fig. 4 a vertical section on the line e f of Fig. 3. Fig. 5 is ahorizontal cross-section on the line 9 h of Fig. 3, and Figs. 6 to 9 aredetail views of parts.

The shaft 1 is driven, for instance, by alocomotive the speed of whichis to be optically represented and communicates its movement by means ofthe gear-wheels 2 and 3 to a rotary worm 4, mounted loosely on a shaft5,

which shaft can be given a uniform rotary movement by means of aclockwork through the gear-wheel 6, fastened on the shaft 5, and thegear-wheel 7 on the shaft of a spring-barrel '7 of a clockwork. 7" is acrank-handle for winding said clockwork.

29 is the escapement-wheel of the clockwork; 32, the escapement-anchor;33, the escapement balance-wheel; 30, the arbor of the escapement-wheel;31, a pinion thereon gearing with toothed Wheel Below the worm 4 a disk8 is fixed to the shaft 5 above the hub of the gear-wheel 6, and thesaid disk is provided. with two cams 9, diametrically opposite eachother. The free ends of three levers 10, pivoted on three verticalshafts 11, are adapted to bear against the circumference of the saiddisk 8, as shown in Fig. 2, under the influence of springs 27, Fig. 4.At the free end of each lever 10 a rod 12 is fixed parallel to therespective shaft 11. The said rod 12 serves as a guide for a slidingblock 13, the face of which is provided with part screw-threads, so thatwhen in engagement with the worm 4 it is caused to move upward on saidrod 12 by the rotation of the worm 4 at a speed proportionate to that tobe measured. When during the retation of the disk 8 one of the cams 9passes the end of one of the levers 10, the latter is moved outward andthe respective block 13 is disengaged from the worm 4, and consequentlyis free to fall back to its lowest po sition.

In front of the worm 4 a slide is guided vertically in a slot 14 of afixed plate 14, so that it may be reciprocated vertically therein. Tothe rear of the said slide 15 is fixed a fork or segment 16, Figs. 5 and8, partially surrounding the worm 4. By means of the said fork orsegment 16 the slide 15 can be moved upward by any of the blocks 13. Theslide 15 consists of a rear plate-15 'and a. shouldered slidingplate 15attached to each other and to the arm 15 by screws 15.

To the arm 15 at the front of the slide 15 a rack 17is fastened, theteeth of which gear with a toothed segment 18, fixed to one end of anindicator or pointer 20, pivoted at 19 on the plate 14, so that thisindicator may show the speed on a scale, as shown in Fig. 1.

Below the slide 15 a bell-crank lever 21 22 is pivoted to the plate 14.The arm 21 of the v said lever is provided with a roller 23, over whichthe under side of the disk 8, in which six radial recesses 24 areprovided, can retate, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4. The said roller 23 isheld in continuous contact with the under side of the disk 8 by a spring25. The other arm 22 of the bell-crank lever is provided with threepawls 26, so set that they can engage at different heights theratchetteeth formed on the front face of the part of slide 15. Then theworm 4 rotates, the slide 15, if free, is moved upward by the mostadvanced of the blocks 13 in proportion to the speed of rotation of theshaft 1, and the indicator or point-er is correspondingly operated bythe rack 17 and toothed segment 18, being prevented from falling downwhen the block falls by the action of the pawls 26, engaging theratchetteeth 28.

After each semirevolution of the clockwork-driven shaft 5 the respectiveblock 13 is disengaged from the worm 4 by means of -one of the cams 9 onthe disk 8 and falls back to its lowest position. Immediately before thedescent of the said block the roller 23 enters one of the recesses 24.This causes the pawls 26 to become disengaged from the teeth 28, so thatif the indicator 20 had been raised to a higher point by the previousblock, owing to the speed having been greater at that time, it can newfall immediately before the block next about to drop reaches the highestposition it will attain, so that the indicator is not allowed to dropunnecessarily far. \Vhen released, the slide 15, with its fork orsegment 16, will drop until it meets the highest block 13. Consequentlyit is advisable to delay this movement until the said block is nearly atthe highest point it will reach.

Fig. 1 also illustrates mechanism for making a record of the speed upona paper strip. On the rack 17 a hook 34 is fastened, Fig. 8, in whichone end of the rod 35 is hooked. The other end of the rod 35 carries aclamp 36 for a pencil. (Not visible on the drawing.) The clamp 36 isguided in a slot 37 in a plate 38, which is hinged on a vertical rod 39and pressed rearward by a spring 40. Behind the plate 38 is a paperstrip 41, which is carried by a spool 42 and is wound off between tworollers, one of which is shown at 44, mounted to rotate on rod 39, whilethe other (not visible in. the drawing) is behind and turns between twopin-bearings 43 43. On this roller the paper strip is wound by theaction of the clockwork through wheel 45 and other intermediate gear.(Not shown, since it forms no part of the present invention.) The rod 39is carried by the frame 46. The spring 47, bearing on the surface of thepaper strip on the spool 42, gives a friction which keeps the paperstrip taut.

What I claim is, in a speed-indicator 1. The combination with a shaftdriven by a machine the speed of which is to be indicated, of a wormoperated by said shaft, a plurality of non-rotatable part-screw-threadedblocks adapted to mesh with said worm and to be raised thereby, meansfor guiding said blocks, anindicator, mechanism operated by said blocksfor actuating said indicator, time-operated mechanism for engaging anddisengaging said blocks successively with and from the worm, and meansfor locking and for momentarily releasing said indicator mechanism atintervals for the purpose set forth.

2. The combination with a shaft driven by a machine the speed of whichis to be indicated, of a worm operated by said shaft, a plurality ofnon-rotatable part-screw-threaded blocks adapted to mesh with said wormand to be raised thereby, means for guiding said blocks, an indicator, aslide adapted to be raised by said blocks, a rack on said slide adaptedto operate the indicator, time-operated mechanism for engaging anddisengaging said blocks successively with and from the worm and meansfor locking and momentarily releasing said slide for the purpose setforth.

3. The combination with a shaft driven by a machine, the speed of whichis to be indicated, of a worm operated by said shaft, a plurality ofnon-rotatable part-screw-threaded blocks adapted to mesh with said wormand to be raised thereby, guide-rods carrying said blocks, a slideadapted to be raised by said blocks, an indicator, a rack on said slideadapted to operate the indicator,a disk mounted on a time-driven shaftand provided with a plurality of cams, a plurality of levers connectedto said guide-rods respectively and adapted to be displaced by said camsfor the engagement and disengagement of the blocks successively with andfrom the worm, and means for locking and momentarily releasing saidslide for the purpose set forth.

4. The combination of a shaft driven by a machine, the speed of which isto be indicated, a worm operated by said shaft, a plurality ofnon-rotatable part-screw-threaded blocks adapted to mesh with said wormand to be raised thereby, guide-rods carrying said blocks, a slideadapted to be raised by said blocks, an indicator having a segment, arack on said slide adapted to operate the segment on the indicator, arecessed disk mounted on a clocluvork-driven shaft and provided with aplurality of cams,a plurality of levers connected to said guide-rodsrespectively and adapted to be displaced by said cams, a ratchet-baralso on said slide, a bell-crank lever, pawls on one arm of saidbell-crank lever adapted to engage said ratchet-bar and a roller on theother arm thereof adapted to enter the recesses of the before-mentioneddisk for the purpose set forth. 7

In witness whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo witnesses.

JAKOB RIGHT.

Witnesses:

M. HANSLIN, C. HANsLIN.

